PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 



PERCID/E. 



San Francisco Perch . — A mbloplites intemiptus. Girard. 



This is one of the most common fish on the Pacific Coast. It 

 is known as the sea perch, porgy, or surf fish. They are the same 

 fish that are known at the east as the cunner, nipper, bergall, 

 chogset, blue perch, etc. The general color is black, mixed with 

 brown, with faint transverse bars of an uncertain dusky hue. The 

 largest exhibit a light orange tint throughout the whole body, with 

 the head and gill-covers of a chocolate color, mixed with light blue, 

 and with blue fins and general bronze coloring in some lights. 

 Like all the perch tribe, on the back is a stiff fin with spines. They 

 are caught most plentifully near rocky shores ; they take almost 

 any bait. It is a tolerably good and sweet pan fish, but they 

 should be eaten as fresh as possible, as their flesh is very soft. 



The perch, which inhabit chiefly the rivers, abound much also, 

 in some parts of the bays ; they are white with blotches of a dirty 

 black on their sides. The quality of their flesh is much better than 

 that of the sea perch. They are found but in small numbers on 

 the ocean coast ; they run about two pounds in weight. 



RoCKFisH. — Paralabrax clathratus. Girard. Dusky Rockfish. — Paralabrax 

 nebulifer. Girard. 



There is a numerous variety of these rockfish of several colors, 

 brown, black, and bright red, of which those mentioned are the 

 most prominent. They are taken in plenty wherever the bottom 

 is rocky. They weigh from half a pound to twenty or thirty pounds. 

 You fish as deeply as possible for them, and they are almost om- 

 nivorous in their appetites, taking all sorts of worms, flesh and 

 small fish. Their meat is white, and good in flavor and firm- 



